Australia's carriers club, the Communications Alliance, has published its submission to the federal government's copyright inquiry after an early copy hit media inboxes.
As can be expected by a drafted-by-committee document, the Alliance's submission (PDF) walks a middle line between stay-off-the-grass resistance to the …

ISPs biggest beneficiaries of piracy

Re: ISPs biggest beneficiaries of piracy

> ISPs have benefited from piracy indirectly as it gives users a reason to purchase access plans with greater capacity.

Hardly. The d/l caps have been increased disproportionally more than prices. The d/l caps are mostly about inter-ISP competition. Capacity-wise its a problem for the ISPs. When I say "problem" I'm talking about the disconnect between marketing and engineering which leads to "traffic management" requirements.

I've just looked up cinema tickets in the overcrowed SE of England (Winnersh Triangle) and the standard adult peak tickets are $10.05 - one austrlian dollar cheaper than the "special-offer-thank-you-for-being-our-customer" cinema tickets with which Telstra graces its customers. The Hoyts-Eastland (in Ringwood, so much like a mini-Reading that I often mix the names up) is over 40% more for Lucy if you book online, with no concessions for anyone. "Into the Storm" is over 100% more expensive at $21.10, but you'll be pleased to know a child can get in for only $16.10.

Price-gouging tends to reduce my sympathy, whether you have the legal right to or not. To paraphrase someone, the internet sees scarcity as damage and routes around it. Sometimes it does - I can't even be bothered to pirate Hollywoods latest and greatest. I wonder if growing up in a world saturated with media will make the next generation as apathetic as I am?

"While conceding that some sort of site-blocking mechanism might be implemented, the Alliance's list of safeguards is unlikely to be welcomed by the copyright sector. It includes only applying blocks to sites hosted overseas that are “flagrantly and totally” infringing; focussing only on sites where infringement is the main source of revenue; be fine-grained enough not to cause collateral damage; only apply after attempts to send takedown notices have failed; and provide indemnity to local ISPs against false claims."

Well no, they're definitely not going to go for that. After all, the police and ASIO et al have repeatedly claimed that any restrictions or controls negatively and unacceptably impact their ability to uphold the law.

Anyone who insists on due process does wants pedophiles to walk free and is letting the terrorists win, dontcha know?